In managing a network, customers install a configuration management solution, or several solutions, sometimes from multiple vendors. Customers often use configuration documents to organize management tasks.
One problem with such documents is the number and kind of configuration documents which need to be present in the network. Even in the context of a single configuration management solution, across the entire system there may exist different kinds of configuration documents, each containing policy statements about the desired configuration. These documents are expressed in different proprietary languages, even within a single solution. This is a burden because typically each document is in a slightly different format, and thus requires different versions of tools at different segments of the network for processing.
Another problem is that after configuration management solution are deployed as systems, the systems tend to drift or diverge from their original intention/business plans. For example, once a configuration management solution is formally deployed according to some plan, the actual computers managed by the IT staff drift out of the original inventory. Further, additional configuration documents are copied in by hand, configuration documents are edited, and/or configuration documents are assigned into fixed permanent configurations.
Another problem results from the fact that configuration management solutions work by requiring that combinations of particular format documents be used in specific combinations. The correct operation of such solutions depends on certain documents being used together in certain combinations. Over time, the system becomes fragile if these subtle co-relationships are not maintained.
In sum, problems arise from the distinct formats of documents and/or the requirement that they often need to be used in special combinations. At the same time, the overall application of a specific business policy depends on an undefined combination of particular, yet different, documents.